It really does not matter where you start from or how you get there, all that matters is the fact you realize we are all in this together and we all have a responsibility to make whatever changes we can to save this planet. It is after all the only one we have.
There is a line from the US Declaration Of Independence that loosely translated says, "If there is something wrong, those who have the ability to take action, have the responsibility to take action". I stole this from the movie National Treasure, thanks Jon Turteltaub.
Guess what....there is a hell of a lot wrong and those who have the ability are not holding up their end of the bargain.
Case in point....we are burning fossils fuels at an alarming rate considering that they are in every decreasing quantities and polluting our atmosphere by doing so.
We badly need to stop using oil and it's byproducts as fuel and develop the alternate fuel sources that are available.
We also depend on oil products for many other items that we have come to expect available to us every day such as plastics and polymers.
If we totally deplete oil through fuel usage we will also stop having plastic products available to us. Look around and try to not see something made of plastic..It's hard to do, it is everywhere. If you are my age you can probably recall the days when car interiors where coated in steel and not cushiony plastics as there are now. Imagine that dashboard as a nice hard piece of steel, or those door panels. It may come back to that.
My point here after I ramble is to say that I feel that the automakers have a responsibility to help fix our world and they could easily do so.
Now it is very easy to say the sky is falling and complain about what is wrong with things but it takes some thought to come up with solutions.
I have one!
We need to revisit an idea from the early part of the 20th Century.....The Peoples Car.
I am not saying to go out and buy a VW.
I'm saying an automaker needs to make a small, bare-bones car with a rear mounted electric motor that can be plugged into a household 115V outlet and charged overnight.
It should have a minimum amount of frills and bells and whistles. Maybe not even roll-up windows, just sliders. This would save weight, engineering and costs as well as steel.
No radio, no air or cruise etc.
If you have ever driven in an older VW Bug you get the idea.
And it should be priced at a point that makes it widely available...say under $10,000 inc taxes etc.
Imagine how inexpensive it would be to commute with a vehicle that you plugged in to house power at home and at work. And if you have wind or solar generating some or all of your home power, it would be even less.
And guess what, the automaker who did this would also make money as I believe people would flock to buy these cars as a way to save money and hopefully, the planet.
One of my favorite cars from my past was an old 1962 Austin Mini Traveler that was as no frills as you could get. Slider windows, no radio and even pull cables for door openers.
I actually liked the slider windows, I thought they were funky.
